


Impenetrable

by Shastelly



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt Hunk (Voltron), Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt Lance (Voltron), Hurt Pidge | Katie Holt, Hurt Shiro (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Langst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Shiro (Voltron) Angst, Shiro (Voltron) is a Mess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:56:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24104017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shastelly/pseuds/Shastelly
Summary: Lance is the last man standing after a nearly indestructible robeast almost destroys them all.  Lance struggles to save his friends and keep them safe after the battle while dealing with his own wounds.
Relationships: Lance/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 111
Collections: Lance Goes Boom





	1. Chapter 1

The alarm was sounding again. Lance pried himself up to a sitting position and blinked bleary eyes, which one was beeping? He focused on the panel until he could see the six lines of color running parallel down the screen. Shiro. Shiro was in the red again. He sighed as he adjusted the power grid sending more energy into Shiro's pod. He bled a little from Keith's and Coran's. He knew they wouldn't mind. If only he had full power this wouldn't be necessary. Hell, some of them might even be healed already, but no, he had to make due with what he had. He didn't have the energy to try further repairs. It was as good as it was going to get, and just like Lance, not quite enough. He sighed and leaned his head against the wall, maybe he could stay sitting up for a while this time. 

He wished Fiducius was still here. He knew the hologram wasn't real, but it was nice to have someone to talk to, someone to distract him from the pain and fear. To be completely fair he'd probably be dead right now if it wasn't for the hologram. He wondered if Coran ever talked to him, or even knew he was in here. The advisor had never mentioned the holographic doctor in the medbay. He chuckled to himself it was way too much like an old TV show Marco used to watch. It was too bad Fiducius couldn't actually do anything like push buttons or stitch up wounds. Lance flinched as his eyes wandered down to his thigh. His stitching was likely to leave a horrible scar, but the wound was not bleeding and that was significant improvement. 

**"You must tend to yourself as well." Fiducius had chastised him in a quiet but firm tone.**

**"I don't have time. I have to repair those power conduits. There isn't going to be enough power to heal them." Lance snapped, dragging himself along the wall, barely staying upright.**

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**"And if you die on the way then all will be lost." Fiducius's face showed no emotion and yet Lance thought he sounded afraid.**

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**"What?" Lance breathed.**

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**"You are bleeding and damaged. You must tend your own wounds now or all of your work will be for nothing. You will die, and then with no one to care for them and maintain the damaged power systems, the others will die as well." Fiducius reached a hand out to him, but of course it went right through his shoulder. "Please, Blue Paladin."**

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****Lance blinked. "Okay." Fiducius was right. He needed to see this through. He needed to be here for his family. "What do I do?"**  
**

Lance fiddled with the panel a little more. Pidge's broken ribs were healing well, her concussion and quintessence drain were the holdouts for her. Well the quintessence drain was a hold out for all of them except for Lance. It was the reason they were so deeply unconscious. It was the only pod worthy injury for Allura and Coran. Other than the drain they only had bumps and bruises from the battle. He hoped he hadn't made a mistake putting the Alteans in the pods to help heal them. He hadn't realized how badly damaged the power was until he had everyone in and he didn't know enough about the pods to stop them midcycle without risking hurting someone. 

Fiducius had told him he did the right thing, so he had to just trust that. Keith had a broken leg, a severe concussion and a gash down the right side of his face. Hunk had dislocated a shoulder, broken collarbone and flail chest. And Shiro, well, his list was a little too long to dwell on, though he was healing faster because his pod had more power flowing to it. 

Lance continued to adjust the panel as sweat dripped into his eyes. He was surprised it was so warm down here, maybe it was the proximity to the power conduits, but with the life support down so low he had expected it was going to be cold. This was better though, he didn't like being cold. He'd been cold when he woke up after the battle. 

**"Guys?" Lance had woken in a cold dark Blue Lion. No one answered his repeated calls to the other lions or the castle. He couldn't do anything about it until Blue awakened and it was driving him slowly mad. He tried screaming, crying, and now he's down to begging.**

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**"Please? Please someone answer, please, Blue I need you." Lance closed his eyes against the tears that threatened again. He couldn't do anything. He had a slash in his leg that was still bleeding sluggishly. He'd wrapped a bandage from his paladin suit around it, but it wasn't enough to make it stop completely and he was afraid to tighten it too much.**

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**The last thing he remembered was Shiro's voice. Shiro had agreed to his hair-brained plan, but only after it was the last option. Considering no one was responding it seems like maybe it was the wrong choice after all. He'd thought he understood the risk, but he was supposed to be the one at greater risk not the others.**

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**Lance closed his eyes and poured every bit of his frustration and fear and longing and need into calling out to Blue, at first he didn't feel anything, but then he felt her coming back to him in little waves like the tide coming in. He cheered when the panel in front of him powered on and Blue roared.**

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**"Okay, let's find them."**

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Lance shook his head to try to clear it. He was tired. He'd been up since then, trying desperately to save them all. He was the only one up. The only one still standing, as absolutely ridiculous as it was. The metal of the creature's skull must have shielded him from the drain as much as it shielded him from the blast. According to Fiducius, he had suffered drain, just not as much as the others. Lance didn't know what he would have done without the Altean hologram helping him to translate the data, to know what medicines would help, and to know what controls he needed. He wouldn't have even gotten the others out of the lions and to the medbay if it wasn't for Fiducius pointing out to him that he could program the gladiators to carry his friends. He'd been on his knees next to Shiro screaming.

**"Please! Help me!" Lance cried. He clutched Shiro's cold hand and let his tears fall down on his face. Shiro was dying. He was dying and Lance couldn't even get him to the medbay - all he had to do was get him to the medbay. He tried to pick him up, but he just wasn't strong enough. He tried to drag him, but his leg kept collapsing under him. Every time his leg hit the ground his vision swam and Lance was afraid he was going to pass out and wake up to Shiro's body - cold and stiff.**

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**"Please state the nature of the medical emergency." An Altean male appeared on the other side of Shiro standing at near attention. Lance, who was pretty much at the end of his rope, screamed.**

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**"I'm sorry, I do not understand AHAHHHH! Do you require assistance?" The man stated plainly. He was as tall as Coran, but where the advisor had an overabundance of orange hair, this man had a sparse tuft of white over each ear. His eye marks were longer than Allura's or Coran's and a deep purple in color. His skin was dark, like Allura's, though wrinkled with age. His eye's were bright blue though, clear and sharp.**

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**"Who?" Lance sputtered.**

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**"I am the ship's emergency holographic doctor. I'm here to assist you with any emergency."**

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**"Hologram?" Lance leaned forward and swatted an arm through him.**

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**"Please stop that; it is rather disconcerting." The hologram requested with a frown.**

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**"I need help. Shiro needs help!" Lance focused on the emergency at hand.**

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**"I see. Well first, let's get him to the medbay. Is there anyone to assist you?" The hologram turned around taking in the damage and the lack of any other individuals.**

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**"No, everyone is hurt. It's just me. I don't. I don't know what to do. I can't carry him." Lance brushed his hand through Shiro's bangs pushing them back out of his eyes.**

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**"I see. Mass casualty accident. Assessment scan required." The hologram nodded to itself or himself or whatever.**

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**"Scan? How?" Lance asked.**

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**"You can control it from this panel. We can assess your friends and know which injuries are most serious and properly assess an order of treatment." The hologram explained, pointing to a panel on the wall.**

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**"But Shiro, he's bad. I don’t know if there's time." Lance worried.**

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**"Yes, but I see that you have already bound the bleeding wounds and stabilized him as much as possible. It is not always apparent which injuries are the worst, also you will need to summon the gladiators to carry the injured for you."**

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**"I see…wait? They can do that?!" Lance staggered to the panel.**

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**"Yes, press here and here. Then select here and state, 'emergency voice command'. This will give you access to the main computer system using voice control throughout the ship. Then call the gladiators to you." The holographic fingers pressed through the panel showing him what to do. It was all a little overwhelming, but Lance didn't have time to stop and think about it.**

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**"Thank you, um, what do I call you?" Lance looked over at the hologram as the scan ran.**

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**The older man frowned, "If you must, you may call me Fiducius."**


	2. Chapter 2

As the pods were showing stable readings Lance switched over to the sensor screen. The only sensors still functioning were the emergency ones that he couldn't figure out how to power down. They were at a range that wouldn't give him any more warning than a "brace for impact", but he would still rather know than not. 

Back when he'd still had some power he'd managed to get the castle steered into a nebula. It was kind of like trying to fly a plane with one wing because of the damage the castle had taken, but after a lot of swearing and course correcting he'd managed to get them to the heart of the nebula. It should shield them from any passing ships, though if someone was looking hard for them, it would be the first place to check. Lance had also sent one of the shuttle pods out of the ship, programmed to fly as fast as it could as far as it could. He was hoping if anyone did come looking they would follow the false trail. Fiducius had seemed to think it was a good idea, but then maybe the old hologram had just been humoring him. Lance had decided he did have a sense of humor, just a very dry one. 

Lance breathed out a sigh of relief, nothing on the scanners. Its wouldn't be fair if every plan he ever had failed. Most of his plans weren't good ones. It was one of them that landed them all in the situation they were in now. The robeast had been impenetrable. Pidge was hurt, Keith was hurt, the castle shield was down and they couldn’t form a wormhole. Lance could hear Shiro's voice echoing in his mind. 

"Lance, I'm not going to let you sacrifice yourself!" Shiro had seemed so angry. His eyes had glinted through the screen at him and made Lance draw back, but he hadn't backed down. Lance had argued that it wasn't a sacrifice; it was a plan, one that he planned to live through. He had told Shiro he wasn't stupid, that he knew what he was doing. He'd asked Shiro to believe in him. 

**"I believe in you, Lance." Shiro had looked straight at him, almost like he could look right into him and Lance had swallowed back the sudden swell of emotion at having his long time crush's undivided attention. "I know you aren't stupid. I also know you have already proven a willingness to sacrifice yourself for others and that is not happening again. Not on my watch!" And Lance would have almost sworn Shiro's eyes had been wet with threatening tears.**

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**"I am not planning to die, Shiro." Lance took a deep breath. They didn't have much time and they didn't have any other plans. "We've hit it with everything we have from the outside on every inch of it and we haven't made a dent. When it opened it's mouth Blue and I got a quick scan and the readings show that the same material is not on the inside."**

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**"So Yellow and I should go, she's the most armored." Hunk offered reminding Lance he wasn't alone with Shiro.**

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**"No, Hunk, she's too big, too much of a risk of her being bitten on the way in." Lance countered.**

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**"And how do you know you won't be?" Shiro asked pinching the bridge of his nose with his human hand like he did when he didn't like what he was hearing.**

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**"Blue and I are faster and smaller. We can get in. It always opens it's mouth when it shoots that ray from it's chest. I've been watching it. I know we can do it. Shiro, we have to do something! Keith is barely functioning, Pidge is unconscious, the castle is down - we're out of choices. I'm it." Lance finished strongly swinging his hands as he spoke and stopping to stare into Shiro's eyes.**

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**"Okay, okay." Shiro looked down and took a breath. "Okay, we're doing this."**

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**Lance cheered.**

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**Hunk whimpered.**

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**The plan had gone well. The thing looked like a metal centipede. It had laser cannons for legs and a huge beam weapon in it's chest. Hunk had distracted the lasers and Shiro had played bait for the beam. He dodged out of the way just as it fired and Lance hadn't had long to feel relieved as he and Blue dove into the open maw. The jaw snapped closed barely missing Blue's tail.**

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**"Lance?!" Shiro's voice called over the com.**

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**"We're in. We made it." Lance reassured.**

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**"Oh that thing looks mad!" Hunk yelled.**

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**"How can you tell? It doesn't have eyes and it's face is made of metal?" Lance asked.**

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**"I can just tell! I know these things and that thing is ticked. It's trying harder to kill me!" Hunk yelled.**

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**"Okay, we're scanning." The material in here was not metal, it was soft, organic. "We can definitely damage it here, but I'm going to need to go in deeper to maximize the damage."**

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**"Lance, be careful." Shiro almost whispered.**

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**"Always am." Lance smiled as he aimed Blue down the throat of the robeast.**

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**Shiro sighed.**

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**"Lance, hurry." Hunk begged as Yellow took a hit.**

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**"Almost there, buddy." Lance tightened his fists on the control. He could do this.**

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**"Lance! Take the shot from there, Yellow is down! I'm moving her back." Shiro's voice ordered.**

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**"Firing!" He and Blue fired all she had into the glowing mass in front of them, it had to be the source of the beam weapon. As it began to swell, he turned Blue around and they clawed their way up the throat. The robeast was thrashing about and it was tricky flying, but they had made it to the mouth - the closed mouth - the closed mouth made of impenetrable metal.**

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**"Shiro?" Lance's mouth was dry. "I'm sorry."**

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**"What? Why?" Shiro's voice was sharp, hurried.**

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**"We can't get out. The mouth is shut." Lance sighed and offered his apologies to Blue. She purred into his mind; she had known the risks.**

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**"No!" Shiro growled.**

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**Lance sucked in a breath at the anger in that one word. He didn't know what to say. He was still trying to figure out how to react when he heard noise against the outside of the metal mouth.**

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**"No, I am getting you out of there!" Shiro answered through gritted teeth.**

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**"Shiro! Get back, you know you can't get through there. That was the whole point of this plan, we can't get through this metal!" Lance yelled back.**

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**"NO! I am not leaving you in there! I am not giving up on you!" Shiro slammed Black into the robeast.**

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**"Shiro, please, get back!" Lance cried, tears beginning to fall.**

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**"Lance, don't do this to me. I promised I wouldn't…I can't…not again…please..." Shiro's voice choked off in a whimper.**

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**Lance wiped at the free flowing tears, "I'm sorry, you need to get back, please. I'm going to put Blue's shield at max. I'm not giving up. I promise. I promise not to give up. I'm going to make it, okay?"**

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**"You promise?" Shiro looked at Lance.**

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**Lance nodded and forced himself to meet Shiro's eyes. He hated himself for this, but he had to get Shiro to move back. Shiro was going to hate him forever when he died. He didn't have much longer to think about it though as the massive wave of energy poured up through the creatures throat and the explosive force knocked him unconscious.**


	3. Chapter 3

Lance sighed and leaned back against the wall. The conduit room was noisy, but he and Fiducius had programmed it to maintain life support even when the rest of the ship went down. They'd had to bypass a lot and even do some physical repairs to get what they had. And what did they have, six pods with his team in them and medbay mattresses on the floor so they didn't get injured when they fell out. He was glad the gladiators had stayed powered up long enough to help him get that much done. The castle had taken a lot of damage during the battle. Lance wondered if the beast's main weapon had been draining the castle's energy like it had drained them all when it exploded. He didn't know though; he was for sure not one of the smart ones on the team. 

Lance rolled his head back to stretch his neck. He was stiff from sitting here, but hurt too much to move. Rolling his head made him dizzy and nauseous so he stopped. A tear squeezed past without his permission. If it hadn't been for Fiducius, none of this would have been possible. He missed the hologram, but the old man had explained that they couldn't afford the power to make him run anymore. Lance had begged him to stay, but Fiducius had smiled sadly and faded away. And after that Lance had been alone again, just like when he'd woken up after the battle.

Lance had begged then, too. Lance had known his plan would put him at risk, but not…not…tears fell again. Where were they, please, please, where were they?

**Blue and he were still located in the robeast's metal head, but as they exited through the throat he found that they were in the middle of a field of debris and parts and guts from the robeast. It had been obliterated by the blast, only the skull had been strong enough to hold it's form, and that was probably the only reason that he and Blue were alive.**

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**Blue quickly located the lions and the castle. The lions were all powered down and the castle had minimal readings.**

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**"Blue, are they alive? Can you?" Lance whispered in horror.**

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**She sent him apologies and sadness. She could only connect with the others through her sisters. She did sense Allura's presence, but it was weak.**

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**Lance surveyed the wreckage. Black was the closest. Metal shrapnel from the robeast had pierced her body in multiple locations, including a long shaft that pierced the side of her head. If it had breached the pilot chamber, then Shiro would not have much time, if he was even… Lance cut off that train of thought. He couldn’t be dead. It just wasn't something Lance could accept.**

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**Shiro was the strongest person in the universe. He'd survived so much. He'd been Lance's hero long before he joined the Garrison. The perfect image of the perfect pilot. Strong, brave, and attractive, though that part of the whole thing hadn't really clicked in Lance's brain until a year or so later when he realized he had those kinds of feelings for boys and girls. Then at the Garrison he'd found out that his hero wasn't just a perfect image. He was actually a really great guy. He was kind to the students, he was a good teacher, and he seemed to genuinely care about the people around him - even really annoying people like Keith. He'd grieved for him when they had believed him dead. It was then he'd realized his hero worship had become a crush. He'd almost blurted it out in the desert; it was probably only Keith's presence that had stopped him. In the castle he'd come to admire Shiro so much more, as a leader, as a survivor, as an all around amazing person that Lance loved. Wait?! What?**

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**Lance blinked as he pushed Blue forward to grab onto Black and begin hauling her back to the castle. Love? Did Lance love Shiro? He pushed it aside as they passed Yellow. She was dented, but not pierced. Her armor had once again protected her paladin and Lance hoped Hunk was okay in there, just waiting on Yellow to power back up. Red and Green floated near the castle. Red had a long scar on her side from the early blast she'd taken from the beam weapon. Keith had been injured, but had still been fighting. Green had a back leg that was barely attached. She'd gotten hit hard and Keith had been sent to take Green back when Pidge had stopped responding after reporting a head injury and possible broken ribs. Lance cringed and pushed Blue faster. He needed to get to all of them. As they entered the darkened castle docking area, Lance laid Black down gently.**

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**Now what did he do, the others needed him, but he needed to check on Shiro. How was he supposed to choose, leave his family floating or risk Shiro dying before he got to him. Lance slammed his fist into the console and screamed in frustration. What was he supposed to do? He was hurt, his family was hurt maybe dead.**

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**Blue tried to soothe him, but there were no easy answers to give and she knew it. She let her own grief and fear mix with his. She understood. In an act of desperation she channeled both her and Lance's feelings and quintessence out into the other lions, longing for her sister's help. It was working, she could feel it, but she feared it may take all she had to give.**

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**Lance's heart nearly stopped when he felt Blue power down again. He reached out, but there was nothing there. Cold shock and fear washed over him and he trembled. He climbed out of her with the intent of finding Coran, of doing something, of going to Shiro, he really didn't know. He did not expect to be met with the glowing yellow eyes of Black.**

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**Black's voice rumbled deep within him. Shiro needed help now! Lance rushed up into the open mouth and was met with a sight that would haunt him for the rest of his life. Shiro was slumped forward in his seat. The shaft of metal that had pierced Black's head had sliced across his chest, missing impaling him by inches, but leaving his chest slashed open and bleeding from his right shoulder to his left hip. His Galra arm had been impacted and torn from his body. It lay on the other side of the cabin, pinned to the wall. Blood seeped from the stump.**

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**Lance rushed forward, he reached out to Shiro's neck and held his breath waiting for the pulse to throb against his fingers. He thought he felt something, but it was so weak. He managed to pull him out from under the metal and onto the floor. Lance thought his leg might be broken. It was swollen enough that it was obvious through the armor. There was blood on Shiro's face shield too, but Lance couldn't tell what it was from. He carefully removed the helmet, but couldn't find the source. Lance searched around the cabin and was able to locate the first aid kit in the wreckage and apply bandages and pressure to the chest wound. He was about to try to move Shiro out when Black powered down.**

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**Lance felt numb, he'd hoped Black would be able to go get the others. Now without Black or Blue, with no response from Allura or Coran - they could be dead for all he knew - the others were lost. Lance trembled as he tried to lift Shiro. There was no way. He was too weak when he was at 100% and he was not there now. He began slowly dragging him from the cabin and down the ramp out of the mouth. It was slow going as his leg gave out every second step. By the time he reached the bottom he was sweating and shaking. Lance fell to his knees by Shiro. It was then he realized that they weren't alone in the docking bay. Yellow, Red, and Green had all arrived. He heard each of the lions cry out for their paladins, without response as they opened their mouths and one by one powered down. It must have taken all of their energy just to get here. Lance had never felt as alone as he did in that moment.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second paragraph is the scene the inspired the story :)

Lance regained consciousness slowly like he was swimming through tar trying to breach the surface. He took a shaky breath and blinked his eyes open. He didn't remember falling asleep. Lance squinted until he could focus on the read out. All of the pods functioning - barely, but still functioning. According to the calculations Shiro would be the first one out. Lance breathed a sigh of relief. Shiro had been the worst and he'd had to channel the most energy into his pod to begin with. It had been a very touchy thing - trying to give enough that Shiro wouldn't die and still have enough left over to keep the others going. 

**They were finally all in the pods. Lance sat on his knees in front of Shiro's pod and leaned his head against the pod, his hands pressed to the glass on either side, tears sliding down his face. All of them, wounds cleaned, bones set, and all without a single one of them waking up. A sob choked out of his throat, he'd managed to hold it together for so long and he was so close to breaking now.**

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**Fiducius said the scans showed dangerously low levels of quintessence. Something had drained them to near death. Shiro was the worst, then Hunk, the Alteans had the least damage, but were still far too low. This on top of the physical injuries. Any of them could have died. Lance had left the scanner running in the medbay and hobbled with the help of a gladiator bot from bed to bed working frantically until the last pod had sealed. Fiducius stood in the background the whole while instructing him on where things were located and what had to be done and which bones had to be set before they could go into the pods.**

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**Between the healing as soon as everyone was stable, he had steered the castle into a nearby nebula to hide them from scanners. He'd had to fight and struggle to get the castle to move where he wanted. It was clear there was damage, he wasn't that bad of a pilot, though maybe it was just because he wasn't Altean. Fiducius had said that was nonsense. Then he'd set the shuttle pod out continuing in the direction that they had been traveling. Hopefully any Galra that stopped by to check on the robeast would find that trail and follow it.**

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**Now though, his friends were all in pods and according to the scans, none of the injuries were beyond the pods capability to heal. Lance took a deep breath and allowed his body to sag and tremble. He stayed on his knees sitting on his feet. He'd done it. They would be okay. Another sob choked out, the exhaustion and emotion made him feel like he'd never be rested again. The others were healing, he'd done what he could to make them safe, he could stop now. Of course, he should really know better than to ever think it was over. The alarms started blaring. Shiro's pod started flashing red lights all over it and then Hunk's pod went off and then Keith's pod.**

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**"Fiducius?! What is going on?" Lance screamed.**

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**"Remain calm, check the panel." Fiducius instructed. He followed Lance over and leaned down to read the screen with him. "It says that there is not enough power to complete the healing process."**

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**"What why?" Lance began pressing buttons and bringing up the castle power schematics. "NO! There's damage everywhere, why didn't it alarm sooner?"**

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**"Likely due to the damage. You need to reroute power." Fiducius's calm voice soothed Lance as his body trembled and sweat rolled down his back.**

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**"Okay, yeah, there isn't much power. I…oh Dios…I don't know if there's enough. I have to cut everything down except the medbay." Lance punched the buttons. The lights in the hall went out. The hum from the ship's engines that he hardly even noticed anymore silenced. The castle was silent and drifting. The lights on Keith's pod went blue, the lights on Hunk's pod went blue, the lights on Shiro's pod, however, remained red. Lance's breath whistled in and out of his body as he started to panic. "No, no, no…," and if Lance had thought he was out of tears he was wrong. "I can't, not after everything, please, don't take him, please, I love him. I can't…I can't," Lance whimpered.**

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**"You need to redirect the power between the pods." Fiducius offered carefully. "There isn't enough to have them all running at full strength. The pods divide what power they have equally, but Shiro needs more."**

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**"Okay, how?" Lance groaned.**

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**"Here." Fiducius pointed to a junction on the power schematics. "This is where they all intersect. You can tap in there and balance the power between the pods to keep them all healing, though it will take longer for them to heal when you use less power."**

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**"Right, okay," Lance took a deep breath, not done yet. "So I need to go down there. I need to…but then I won't be here to catch them. Okay. You and you." Lance pointed at two bots. "Bring the mattresses and put them in front of the pods for them to fall on. Now I need to get down there."**

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**"Not until you tend to your own wounds." Fiducius almost sounded concerned.**

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Lance tried to reach up a hand to wipe the tear from his face, but decided it was too much effort. A bit of furry warmth scampered onto his shoulder and rubbed the tear out with it's little body. The mice, Lance smiled down at her. They were here. Last he'd seen them, they had curled up at the foot of Allura's pod. The other three were curled together against the side of his leg. It was good not to be alone, even if they weren't very good conversationalists.

"Everyone okay?" Chirps and waved paws answered. "It won't be long now, according to this Shiro will be out in a varga and everyone out in the next two varga."

The mice nodded and chirped happily. The one that had been on his cheek, Chuchule, climbed down onto his injured leg, careful to skirt around the edges of the wound. She chattered angrily at the others and made gestures at his leg.

Lance laughed, "I’m fine." Now she turned her anger to him chittering angrily while he laughed until she stomped a tiny little foot too close to the wound. Lance hissed in pain and thumped his head back against the wall, clenching his fists and sucking in a breath. Oh yeah, that was definitely infected. When his breathing slowed and the white faded from his vision he realized there were four furry little bodies pressed against his face and neck. "I'm okay. I know you didn't mean to hurt. I know I need to get fixed up too. Let's just see how much power we have when everyone is out. Pidge and Coran and Hunk will probably have this thing fixed up and working in no time. They are so much smarter than me. Heck, I couldn't have even done this much if it wasn't for Fiducius. Of all the paladins to be stuck trying to save everyone that had to get stuck with me. Any of the others would have done better. OUCH!" 

Lance stopped his rant and glared at Plachu, who held two eyelashes in his paw, "What was that for?!"

Plachu huffed and rolled little red eyes at him.

"Fine, just be that way. I'm tired. I'm going to close my eyes, wake me up if you hear the alarm, okay?" Lance's eyes drifted shut as the mice nuzzled against him. He couldn't help but think of how this was all his fault and he'd once again failed his friends. When were they ever going to realize that he just wasn't good enough to be a paladin. He moaned in his sleep as his fevered head tilted to the side. The mice whimpered in sympathy taking turns sleeping and watching over their friend as he slept.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changing up the point of view...Shiro's turn to talk

Shiro felt himself falling forward, but he couldn't do anything about it. His body was frozen and stiff. His brain supplied that someone should catch him, however as the fall progressed no warm arms wrapped around him. Instead his face impacted directly with a slightly stiff and not nearly soft enough material - at least it wasn't the floor his brain offered. Shiro huffed a breath into the mattress. His body was slowly warming up. He smacked his lips at the dry feeling in his mouth. Near silence greeted him and it sent a shiver of wrong through his body. 

He moved his arm to raise himself up and the sense of wrongness only increased. Shiro opened his eyes and gazed to his right - his arm was gone, well the stump was there, but the Galra arm was missing. His breath shuddered out in a controlled breath. He couldn't let himself panic. He pressed his left hand into the mattress that was laying on the floor and managed to push himself up, pulling his knees around and sitting carefully, still swaying a little. 

No one was there? He blinked again trying to focus his vision that wavered slightly. He was on a mattress on the floor. Wait? Why was there a mattress on the floor? Someone put it here, someone who knew they wouldn't be here to catch him? Shiro sucked in a sharp breath and spun around, losing his balance and falling forward off the side of the mattress as he failed to account for the lack of his Galra arm. Looking up from where he lay on the floor he could see that the other pods were all lit, all full, Keith, Hunk, Pidge, Allura, and Coran? What happened and where was Lance?

"Lance?" He creaked, voice dry and rough. He coughed lightly and tried again, "Lance!" No joyous voice greeted him, no concerned blue eyes, no soft sweet smile that only appeared when no one was paying attention. He noticed the other pods had mattresses in front of them as well, had Lance moved them there? Surely some of the others had helped him; there was no way Lance lifted him or Hunk into the pods. But where was Lance? He pulled himself back up to a seated position and looked back at his own pod. Whatever panic he'd kept at bay until that point was set loose in that one vision. The front of his pod slid closed again revealed bloody hand prints - smudged and smeared blood on the outside. He couldn't catch his breath as he followed the trail and found there was blood on the floor smeared around in front of his pod, under the mattress, dripped, scattered, and splattered like a macabre work of modern art. There was blood on the panel by the door. There was blood on the door. There was some blood around the other pods, but not as large as the amount around his. Whose blood was it? Was it his, theirs, Lance's? Spots danced in front of his eyes and he tried desperately to pull in more oxygen, but he couldn't get enough. His chest tightened painfully. He felt tears streaming down his face. Between the lingering effects of the pod and his exhaustion - he just couldn't stop shaking, couldn't stop crying, couldn't fend off the panic that drove his breathing too fast, black spots started dancing in his vision…NO! 

Shiro closed his eyes and took a long deep breath. He pushed all of the panic down in his chest, crammed it into an imaginary box and slammed the lid. He did not have time for this. He did not have time for emotions. Now was the time for action. He pulled himself back up to a seated position. Taking a few deep breaths he waited until the dizziness passed. He scooted closer to the pod and using his remaining arm pulled himself to standing. The blood on the surface of the pod made him shudder. It was dried. His hand lingered for a moment against an almost perfect hand print. It was slightly smaller than his; the fingers long, but slender; the palm large but narrow. It was Lance's print; Shiro was certain. He placed his hand over it and took another deep breath. Another boxed away emotion threatened to bubble out of it's box. It's own cute blue box that was tied, chained, and nailed shut. He briefly imagined what it would feel like to hold that hand in his, how warm it would be, how nicely it would fit just inside his, how Lance's head would just reach his shoulder, how soft Lance's hair would feel against his shoulder if he were to lean over against him…down Shiro. Shiro growled at himself and added a layer of duct tape to the lid of that particular box.

Shiro knew boxing up every emotion and problem was not exactly a healthy coping mechanism. In fact, it likely contributed greatly to his memory loss and PTSD from his time in captivity. Or maybe not, maybe it was the only thing keeping him sane, and if he let everything out of their boxes he'd just collapse under the pressure of it all. Either way now was not the time to figure out a new way to deal. Lance was missing, the rest of the crew was in pods. He needed to figure out what was going on and fast.

He made his way over to the nearest computer interface. He sat heavily in the chair where Coran usually worked in the lab. He pulled up the pods first. They were all working, though not at 100%. He tried to adjust the power, but found that he was locked out and he couldn't make any adjustments. Further digging found that the only areas of the ship with power were the pods and a small conduit junction in the bowels of the engine room. He couldn't piece together what had happened. He had to hope Lance was in the engine room.

"Lance?" Shiro's voice was still dry and painful and even he barely recognized it as it echoed over the communication system. He waited several minutes, but there was no replay. "Lance, please answer me?" Nothing.

He needed to know what he was dealing with. Could Lance have left the ship? Maybe he was in Blue? Shiro tapped at the computer screen searching for answers, he found rerouted power going to the pods, that made sense, but also begged more questions, how damaged was the ship? He remembered Allura and Coran losing the particle barrier, but they had still been talking before…before the explosion. What if Lance didn't…no that was his hand print, he had definitely made it to the ship and if someone else was up when they all went in the pods he must not have been too badly injured or they would have made him get into the pod. Lance must have been the healthiest of them or he wouldn't be the one still out, right? Maybe the communications in the engine room were down, he didn't need to borrow trouble and worry himself. Lance was very capable. Lance had proved himself over and over again. Lance was fine. But unfortunately, no matter how many times he made himself repeat it he didn't believe it.

Shiro's fingers hovered over the keyboard. There was a security feed in the medbay. There should be a recording. A few quick taps and it was up, but it was not the scene he expected. Lance was the only one moving. Everyone else was still. He watched his body be carried in by gladiator bots. He watched Lance patch him. He watched Hunk's body come in next. Lance had patted his shoulder and moved on to his friend. Blood covered much of his suit, but it was impossible to tell how much was his and how much came from his friends. The quality of the recording was excellent and Shiro wished that it was not. He could see the pain in Lance's face. He could see the tears running down his cheeks. Keith was followed by Pidge and then Allura and Coran. Sometime between Keith and Pidge's arrival, Lance ordered two of the gladiator bots to help him wrestle Shiro into a suit. Shiro tried not to blush. It was needed and Lance didn't linger, why would he, Shiro banished that thought it wasn't as though Lance felt that way about him. 

Lance tended to all of them. He did something with the ship that required a fair amount of cursing. He managed it all, but by the end it was clear that he was not well. He limped heavily. His breathing was rapid and strained. He was pale. The blood that marked his every step could not be attributed to the others. On top of that he seemed to be talking to himself or to an hallucination maybe? He kept saying a name that Shiro had never heard before, Fiducius. Shiro had no idea that Lance knew so much about the medbay, about how to patch them and run the pods, how to reprogram the gladiator bots - but he took care of everyone. He saved them all. 

Shiro felt tears running down his own face as Lance finally stopped. He stood in front of Shiro's pod and then sort of collapsed in upon himself. His knees folded and he slid down facing the pod. His eyes on Shiro, tears streaming down his face, hands resting on the glass surface, he pressed his head against the glass and sobbed. Shiro pressed his hand against the screen wishing that he could bring the sobbing boy some comfort, but the moment was past. 

The alarm on the pod sounded in the video and Lance reacted. He screamed the name again and seemed to panic. His words were quick and harsh and half sobbed. Shiro felt his own heart breaking watching Lance, who had been so strong, reach the end of his endurance. And then his heart stopped. Did Lance, had he heard that right, it couldn't be…? Shiro paused and backed the video and turned the volume up.

He listened again as Lance sobbed out, **"I can't, not after everything, please, don't take him, please, I love him. I can't…I can't."**

****

****

"Lance?" Shiro whispered and his heart went from standstill to a thousand miles a minute. He needed to find Lance now.

He watched as Lance yelled and seemed to find a solution from Fiducius or whatever was going on when Lance talked to himself. Lance ordered the gladiators to place the mattresses and then seemed about to go into the hall when he stopped.

**"I don't have time. I have to repair those power conduits. There isn't going to be enough power to heal them." Lance snapped, dragging himself along the wall, barely staying upright.**

****

****

**Lance paused and seemed to look into space.**

****

****

**"What?" Lance breathed and then paused for several seconds before seeming to answer, "Okay."**

****

****

He hobbled back over to the medical area and pulled a kit from the cabinet. He slid to the floor and begin to pull things from the box. A bottle with a syringe, which he loaded and injected into his leg. A pair of Altean scissors which he used to cut the suit around his thigh. Shiro cringed at the wound there that had been left untreated the whole time and was the likely source of much of the blood. Then Shiro watched as Lance threaded a needle and not too gracefully began to sew his own leg. He would cringe and blink back tears, sometimes he'd bang his head against the wall and scream, **"Dios!"** or something else in Spanish that Shiro did not know. When he finished he pulled himself up, wobbled a bit and then leaning on the wall made his way to the door. 

****

****

**"What do you mean? You can't leave! I need your help! Fiducius!" Lance screamed at the air and reached out a hand as if to catch something.**

****

****

**"Please."** That one word held such need and pain that Shiro found himself wiping tears again. 

****

****

**"No. I understand. I just…thank you. Thank you, Fiducius, I couldn't have done this without you." Lance huffed and then turned away as if disagreeing with something only he heard. "Yeah right. If it had been anyone else everyone would be better off. Just our luck that the worst paladin is the only one left standing."**

****

****

**"Whatever, Fiducius, I know where I rank and it's okay. I'm just glad you were here and I hope I haven't screwed it all up too much. I'm just glad they still let me stick around. Hey, who knows if I get good at this stuff maybe I'll stay even when they do find someone better." Lance glared at the space now.**

****

****

**"It is not a pity party!" Lance shook his head. "Fine I did good - it doesn't mean they wouldn't have done better. Now I have to go, I need to get the power fixed." Lance moved to the door and then turned to look over his shoulder.**

****

****

**"I'll miss you."** Lance gave one of those soft smiles that Shiro cherished and then went out the door. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro got windy and introspective in this chapter...

Shiro was startled from his contemplation of the screen by the beeping of one of the pods. He turned in time to see Coran stumble from his pod and land mustache first onto the mattress.

"Coran?" Shiro moved over to help the advisor, who was muttering into the mattress.

"Ah, Number One, be a good lad and help me up. There. Now what is going on and why am I on the floor on a mattress that is not approved for the floor. These will slide too much. The floor mattresses are kept in the aft storage area. We only ever got those out for emergencies. I remember the time…"

"Coran." Shiro tried to catch the Altean's attention as the man still seemed somewhat dazed from the pod…or rather more dazed than usual…or maybe it wasn't that really far from normal so maybe he was fine.

"Number One, you seem to have misplaced your arm?" Coran asked with concern, eyebrows raised comically.

"Yeah, a lot happened. The ship is low on power, barely enough to run the pods and one other area. I think Lance is in the other area and I need to go get him. Can you see if you can figure out what's wrong with the ship?" Shiro asked urgently.

"Yes, I'm remembering now. There was damage during the battle, but it wasn't that bad. It must have been that final wave. We saw it coming when the robeast exploded, but the shields were already down. I'll see what I can do." 

Shiro started to walk to the door when Coran's hand clamped on his arm. He turned back to the advisor confused. 

"You'll need your armor and helmet. If the ship is without power it will be cold and there could be breaches or even areas of low oxygen depending on the damage. With the ship not working properly you will have no way to know." Coran explained.

Shiro nodded and hurried to the pile of armor. He'd seen where Lance had discarded it all on the video. He grimaced at the feeling of dried blood as he pulled it on. There were some rather disturbing holes in the armor as well.

Coran pulled something that looked like white duct tape from a drawer and proceeded to patch the suit and tie off the empty sleeve, "Seems you did not fare that well in the last wave either. There, good as I can make it. Contact me when you reach him and I will try to get power restored at least along your path. Who knows where we are." 

"A nebula of some kind. Lance steered the castle here to hide us. He sent out a shuttle pod to lay a false trail, so hopefully we are safe for now. I watched the security feed. He was the only one up." Shiro answered softly as he struggled with his helmet.

Coran blinked slowly and nodded. He sighed as he reached forward and properly seated the helmet on the one armed paladin, "That must have been awful for him."

"I know, but look at all he did." Shiro smiled sadly, "I don't think we tell him enough how much we appreciate him."

"I think maybe it's time that changed?" Coran answered with a bit of a twinkle in his eye and a grin.

Shiro couldn't stop the blush and hoped the old Altean couldn't see it past the helmet, but somehow he thought that Coran could, "Yes, it's long past time."

"Now, go retrieve Number Three and take this," Coran grabbed a first aid kit from another cabinet. All of the paladins had received basic training in their use. "If Number Three is true to form , he took better care of us than himself."

Shiro huffed an affirmative and headed from the medbay into the dark castle. 

The halls were still and uninviting without their usual teal glow. Shiro had never really appreciated Lance's occasional references to the ship being a ghost ship until now. The lightening always seemed warm and inviting to Shiro and he supposed that it was supposed to feel that way. Maybe Lance had always seen what was missing. Shiro was from a small family and had never been a big crowd kind of person, having the other paladins and the two Alteans on board had felt right and comfortable to him and he never really paid attention to the fact that the castle could hold so many more. Sure, he'd wished for more soldiers knowing the battles they would face, but he'd never really put thought into there being anything missing from the castle.

Maybe Lance had, maybe it was why he would talk about the empty halls or ghosts or how creepy certain parts of the castle were. Shiro had laughed and let the others tease him for trying to get out of work or avoiding doing certain chores, but maybe Lance had really felt that way. He was a crowd person. Shiro remembered seeing him at Freshman orientation, yelling and introducing himself and mingling among the crowd. Of course, Shiro hadn't known his name then, but he had definitely noticed the vibrant attractive young man as he made his way around the room leaving laughter and smiles in his wake. Lance also had a large family that he missed. Shiro was well aware of Lance's homesickness. Both Coran and Hunk had expressed concern to him about how Lance was feeling. 

The problem was that Shiro had no idea how to fix it or make him feel better. Being a Garrison trained Captain meant that he knew how to motivate soldiers to fight. He knew how to throw a quick patch on a wound. He knew how to triage. He did not know how to repair. He knew how to get Lance to fight or perform on a mission. He didn’t know how to get him to talk to him or what to do even if he did talk to him. Now it seems that Lance has been hiding more than homesickness. The surprising words of low self esteem and his completely off base judgement of his worth had to be addressed. Shiro was just going to have to figure out how to make it happen.

He was going to talk to Lance and tell him that his was wonderful and brave and smart and the most versatile of the paladins. That he was so crazy brave and self sacrificing that it scared Shiro and made him proud all at the same time. That Shiro couldn't stand the thought of Lance ever leaving the team, that he was too important to even think that they could replace him. Shiro was going to tell him he could never be replaced because Shiro loved him. Shiro shook his head, dismissing those emotions - because the team loved him. He was going to tell Lance that he knew Lance missed his family, but that they were like a family now. That he…they would be Lance's family. And somehow Shiro was going to manage to tell Lance all of that without letting him know about certain emotions in a certain box that were most certainly not getting out anytime soon.

Lance did not need to deal with an emotionally and physically damaged Shiro, who was not only several years older, but also his leader. It wasn't okay for Shiro to want that and he knew it so that was that. On the other hand he also knew how deep those emotions ran and there was no way he was going to sit by and watch Lance suffer if there was anything he could do to help. He cared for Lance, more than he should, more than he would admit even to himself. 

Keith was on to Shiro, but he could trust Keith not to say anything. Mostly he just looked at Shiro like Shiro had gone nuts. It was clear that Keith didn't see everything in Lance that Shiro could see. Lance confused Keith, they simply didn't have enough common ground yet. The two fought more over misconceptions and misunderstandings than real differences. Shiro was certain once Keith started to see past Lance's mask and once Lance started to see past Keith's mask that they would find themselves true friends. Lance was too kind hearted not to account for Keith's pain and Keith knew too much about loneliness not to feel for Lance's homesickness. No, once they got past the acts they each put on they would be friends. Even if the reasons that it was important to Shiro were not coming out of that box, it still made he feel better knowing that his pseudo little brother would approve of the person he…Shiro took a moment to bang his head against the wall. He was pretty sure the exhaustion, typical post pod healing, was messing with his brain.

Shiro finally made it to the engine room conduit junction. He turned the corner and nearly fell to his knees. Lance laid curled on his side in a near fetal position. A dim light from a panel lit the area with a teal glow, like he was spotlighted in the darkness. His hair was damp and stuck to his forehead. His normally tan skin was sallow with darkened patches of redness over his cheeks. His eyes were closed. Lance didn't hear Shiro coming, though Shiro was certain that he had not been quiet. Lance didn’t move. A tablet lay discarded at his side. The mice were chirping and hopping about, one of them on Lance's face and he still didn't move. For several very long moments Shiro was certain that he'd arrived too late and that Lance was dead, until finally he saw a slow labored breath work it's way through the body before him.


	7. Chapter 7

Shiro reached Lance's side and gently knelt down. He nearly tilted to the side again off balanced by his missing arm. He reached his hand out and brushed Lance's bangs from his forehead. Heat greeted his fingertips.

"Lance, you are so hot." Shiro murmured. A low chuckle reached his ears.

"Sure I am, just didn’t realize you'd noticed." Lance answered in an attempt at humor, though the shallow breathy nature of the words made Shiro even more concerned for his health.

"Lance, I need to get you back to the medbay, this fever is really high." Shiro answered as calmly as he could while trying to hide the fact that he was a blushing disaster after Lance's comment.

"Can't go. I have to monitor the pods." Lance pulled himself back upright with some groaning and a grimace of pain. He reached for the tablet, brushing against Shiro as he did.

"Lance, we can take the tablet back with us. We need to get you into a pod." Shiro urged.

"Pods are full. I filled them up. You're in one too." Lance muttered.

"I'm here, Lance. I'm not in the pod. Coran is out too." Shiro picked up the tablet and handed it to Lance.

"Wait…Shiro's pod is off. Is it supposed to be off? Are you okay?" Lance blinked over at Shiro and swung his head in a drunken manner until he was looking straight at him. "I kind of thought I dreamed this. Shiro never called me hot before in real life."

Shiro stuttered for a moment because the first thought in his mind was whether Shiro had told him that in a dream, but he repressed that as much as possible to deal with the emergency at hand. "I'm okay. I'm healed. Coran is out too. Speaking of, I need to contact him."

Lance nodded and looked at his tablet again.

"Coran? Coran, I have Lance. He's feverish and he was unconscious when I got here." Shiro reported over the comms.

"Sleep." Lance answered at the same time Coran responded.

"Number Five has awakened and is assisting me with repairs. We should have ship wide minimum life-support in under a varga."

"What?" Shiro asked Lance.

"I was 'sleep. I'm sleepy." Lance answered as if it should have been clear.

"Number One?" Coran again.

"Oh, sorry, Coran, Lance is kind of out of it too. Maybe it's the fever." Shiro offered in response.

"The readings from the pods indicate a quintessence drain, it is possible that is affecting him as well. This would cause deep exhaustion, lethargy, and possibly confusion or even hallucinations." Coran rattled back in his usual inappropriately cheerful manner.

"That could be it. He was talking to someone that wasn't there on the video." Shiro nodded to himself. He rummaged through the first aid kit until he found an antiseptic. He eyed the long leg stretched out in front of him. The wound was angry, red and swollen. The skin was pulled tight against the jagged stitch. He reached out and gently touched the surface and could feel heat from the wound.

"Ow." Lance turned to him with a frown.

"Sorry, I know, and this isn't going to feel much better, but I need to get some of this poured into the wound." Shiro held up the bottle and Lance's frown deepened. The Altean antiseptic was similar to Earth's version though more efficient it was still going to sting.

"Okay." Lance took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Shiro leaned his shoulder against Lance and pressed him back against the wall, "Sorry, I need you to try to hold as still as possible." Shiro held the bottle over the wound and slowly poured. Shiro was certain that Lance was trying to hold still, but still he jerked with pain. Shiro was jostled and missed about half of his target. He pressed his body further against Lance to hold him and tried again. This time getting the rest of the wound covered. He could feel Lance trembling under him. He pulled away and looked at Lance. His face was pale and streaked with silent tears. He'd bitten his lip and closed his eyes. His head was leaned against the wall. Shiro sat the bottle down and reached his hand up to brush a tear from his cheek.

Blue eyes blinked slowly open as a warm cheek leaned into Shiro's hand.

"Hey, I'm sorry. You hurt anywhere else?" Shiro asked slightly breathlessly.

"No, well, not bad." Lance whispered, his eyes locked with Shiro's eyes.

"Okay. I'm going to get you back to the medbay and we're going to get you fixed up." Shiro smiled softly. Lance looked away, but Shiro wasn't having that. He gently turned his face back to him with his hand. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"I…no, of course not. I'm just. I'm sorry. My plan and everything and I wasn't good at getting everyone…it was so close you almost…I…" Lance blinked back tears and tried to look anywhere but Shiro's eyes.

"Lance, look at me." Shiro waited for those blues to reluctantly meet his eyes. "Lance, I am so impressed with you. You handled yourself so well under circumstances that no one should have to endure. You not only treated each of your teammates, but made sure we were in a safe place to heal, and though I'm less impressed with your stitching," Shiro gave him a wink, "you did make an effort to take care of yourself."

Lance chuckled wetly at the reference to his stitching, "I'm better with sewing fabric."

Shiro's heart stuttered at the smile that greeted him through those tears, "I bet, you never cease to surprise me."

"Okay." This time when Lance looked away Shiro let him and moved his hand down to his shoulder to grip it lightly.

"Now, let's get you back to the medbay." Shiro started to stand when Lance shook his head.

"No, we have to stay here until everyone is out. This is the only place we can redirect the power between the pods. I've had to redirect it a few times and…well…I've lost track of where I had to move power from and I'm not sure. I mean it should be fine, but I'm not sure." Lance shifted uncomfortably.

"Can you tell from the tablet?" Shiro picked up the forgotten tablet and placed it in Lance's hand. He sat next to Lance so that their shoulders brushed together. He was still really uncomfortable with the fever, but Lance seemed to be aware and he'd done all he could for now.

"Um…yeah. Looks like everyone should be out in a quarter varga or so." Lance flipped through the screen frowning in concentration.

"Okay, I'm going to contact Coran then and let him know what we are doing." Shiro spoke softly. "Why don't you just close your eyes and rest for a bit?"

Lance blinked blearily and then nodded, laying the tablet to the side. He leaned his head back against the wall. The mice resettled on his lap.

"Coran?"

"Yes, Number One?"

"Lance says this is the only place to redirect power between the pods and he's not sure if they are going to need any more adjustments, so we're going to wait here until everyone is out." Shiro watched as Lance's body relaxed into sleep and his head came to rest on Shiro's shoulder.

"Shiro, how's Lance?" Pidge's voice was a welcome addition. The last time he'd heard her she had been in pain and had lost consciousness not long after.

"He's feverish and has a nasty leg wound, looks like it's infected, but he was awake and talking to me. He was a little confused at first. He seems clearer now," Shiro looked fondly down at the head on his shoulder, "but he's exhausted."

"So no more talking to himself? Hallucinations?" Coran asked.

"Not since I've been here. Like I said, there was some initial confusion when he woke up and he has already fallen back asleep. The mice are here too, by the way, I'm sure Allura will want to know where they are when she gets out." Shiro wrapped his arm around Lance as a shiver seemed to work it's way down his body, no doubt chilling from the fever. Lance unconsciously snuggled in closer to Shiro. Shiro's breath caught in his throat, how was he going to get all these feelings back in their damn box.


End file.
